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INTERVIEW: Hardwell at Electric Zoo

Hardwell continues to light up every crowd he plays for. The producer/DJ remains one of the biggest dance music artists, with the most loyal fans. Over the past few years, he's proven his passion for music, with his original tracks and remixes, and his label Revealed, while spreading his talent all over the world as he tours constantly.

We got to catch up with Hardwell after his set at Electric Zoo in New York City. He talked about the new music he premiered, his favorite rappers, and what his Canadian bus tour with Dannic and Dyro was like. Check it out below:

Did you play any new music in your Electric Zoo set?

I always play a lot of new edits. Because I'm like a guy who gets really bored, like when I play the same set over and over again. I always, especially for these kind of festivals, people are excited to see me, and I don't want to play the same set I did at Tomorrowland or Ultra, you know? Like, especially the live-stream set.

I played a lot of new songs. I premiered a new song from Dyro, I played my remix with W&W for Avicii "Wake Me Up," which is finally coming out.

There was a lot of different music in your set, including Justin Timberlake and Jay Z! Are you a fan?

I've played like hip-hop, I've played rock because I played Red Hot Chili Peppers, I've played Above and Beyond, I've played a lot of my own songs. I just, I just try and combine as much as possible. You can tell New York is such an open-minded crowd. So I think people really loved it, and I loved it as well.

I love the song "Holy Grail," and I wanted to play it in my set, it was so difficult to make an edit of it! I did my very best, and I think it worked out really well.

Are you a big Jay Z fan? Who are your favorite rappers?

I'm a huge Jay Z fan. I'm a really hip-hop kind of guy. Well, to be honest, 10 years ago when I started DJing, I started as a hip-hop DJ!

Definitely Eminem, Jay Z, Kanye, even like A$AP, Drake, of course. A lot of guys.

His [Eminem] new album is coming out in two weeks or three weeks, I guess. Well I'm curious to hear. The Marshall Mathers LP, I grew up with that album, so I'm really curious to hear his new album. I hope Slim Shady's getting back instead of Eminem!

How was your summer?

My summer was really hectic, to be honest. I'm really exhausted right now, but I really enjoyed every moment of it. I have two weeks off after this, so time to recover for me! But yeah, I played basically all the major festivals, from Tomorrowland to EDC, and now we're here at E Zoo. I did like a major tour in the states for two weeks, I had a major Canada tour for two weeks. It's been crazy. A lot of gigs in Europe as well.

You tour with your guys Dannic and Dyro a lot. What is like the most hilarious moment, or hilarious story from being on the road with them that you can remember?

Well, that's definitely the Canadian bus tour we did, the three of us together. Just the three of us in a bus. It was like going on a trip with school, in a bus. Three little kids, three little boys in a bus for two weeks. That was not good, that cost me like three years of my life at least, you know? There was just partying every day, and you know the moment you finish at the gig, you sleep, you wake up, you're in a new city and start playing again, and it goes all over and over again. So every night was just a big party, and it was definitely the most memorable moment we had, the three of us.

Since we are at Electric Zoo, if you were an animal, what animal would you be?

A penguin. That's my favorite animal because those animals are so stupid. You know an animal, like a penguin is just walking around on ice, is falling down all the time, eating fish, and going to sleep again, and that's it. That's its life. It's a beautiful life, right?